WASHINGTON, DC – Today, unable to find enough votes to pass
a comprehensive transportation bill, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and House
Leadership split their appalling transportation proposal into three separate
bills in hopes of passing each of them and packaging them into a final bill,
without a final vote on the recombined bill. This bill would then be
sent to the Senate, which is working on its own bipartisan bill. The
combined House bill, which is chockfull of giveaways to Big Oil and
terrible transportation policies, would be dead on arrival in the Senate
and the President has signaled that he would veto the bill.

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune issued
the following statement:

“Speaker Boehner’s actions today demonstrate
just how desperate the Grand Oil Party of the House is to please their Big Oil
friends.

“In a display of unapologetic political gimmickry, the House will
vote on their damaging transportation bill in three separate parts. One bill would open up our shores and the
treasured Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to destructive oil drilling and
permit the dirty Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The second bill would
attack Americans’ transportation choices, jeopardizing public transit,
eliminating funds to make communities more bikeable and walkable, and gutting
our nation's bedrock environmental review laws. The last piece of this
monstrosity would raid pensions for government employees – a cynical attempt to
pay for this terrible legislation on the backs of government workers.

“Whether it’s in the form of one bill or three, this transportation bill is not
aligned with the priorities and interests of American families. The bill is dead on arrival in the Senate and
the President has said he will veto it. It’s time for the
House to get to work on the business of the people and stop playing political
football to score points with the Big Oil lobby.”